Chapter 16 - The Order

Through his link with the wardstone, Harry felt the activation of the wards. In an instant, the magic took a complex shape following the directions from the arrays, and spread outward like a bubble being inflated. When they finished taking shape, their power grew over the following few seconds to reach the optimal level of activity.

Harry was having a mild headache due to the influx of informations. He returned to the tile, and with a mental command, was brough back up.

"We felt the activation of wards" stated Semimaris. "Was that you?"

"Yes. I took control of the family wardstone. It was damaged when the manor was destroyed, but it repaired itself. I only activated wards to conceal our presence. There were others, but I'm too tired to check them, and we don't need them right now."

With that said, he left the ruins with the girls following behind. Once outside, he raised the wizarding tent. There was a sitting room, separated from the kitchen/dinning room by a curtain. On each side of the sitting room were 2 passages leading to a bathroom and 2 bedrooms on each side. 3 of these rooms had 2 beds, while the last one had one big bed.

Semimaris and Camille were paired together, both being assassins, Caitlyn and Vi were already good friends so they took a room, which left Scathach with Xuanzang. Though Semimaris was displeased with the arrangements, she kept it to herself and bear with it. She reminded herself that it was temporary and that once the place got rebuild she would have her own room.

Once everyone got settled and retrieved their possessions, new and old, they showered and went to bed. Harry was so drained mentally that he didn't even give the ladies the option to use the bathroom first. Luckily for him, they understood his current situation, and wouldn't hold it against him.

Later in the night, while Harry and his heroines were peacefully sleeping, another group of people was active. They had arrived at Privet Drive, and intended to retrieve the youth supposed to be living there. They were the advance guard of the Order of the Phoenix.

"There is noone" said the disfigured man with an artifical eye in a low voice.

"Good, it'll be easier to get him then" replied a pink haired girl.

"You didn't get it, Tonks?" he angrily retorted. "He isn't there. The house is empty. Neither Harry nor his relatives are there!"

"Harry!" whispered a shabby dressed man as he rushed into the house.

The rest of the group followed after him. When they reached the door of his room, a few of them glanced suspiciously at the locks on the outside and the catflap at the bottom. The 3 people entered the room while the others went to search the rest of the house. Compared to the rest of the house, the room was shabby, with second hand old and tastless furnitures. There were no traces of any of Harry's belongings. They made sure of it with a few spells.

"This isn't what a teen's room should look like" whispered Tonks.

The 2 men caught it, but didn't show any signs of it. Inwardly, they were asking themselves some questions.

"I don't think he has been there since the day of the attack" said the shabby man. "His scent is still lingering, but it's old. Nobody has been there since then, Moody."

"I think you're right Lupin" replied the retired auror. "No signs of violence. There is a lose floorboard with a hidden space under. He kept something there, but it's empty. He left of his own will. Didn't he do the same thing before his 3rd year?"

"Yeah. With You-Know-Who back, I guess he panicked after the attack."

"Or he didn't trust anybody and decided to stay on his own. He was supposed to be safe here after all."

It soon became clear that, after Harry's departure, the Dursley didn't intend to stay long. They left early in the day on vacation, most likely to get away from anything magical. They swiftly returned to their hidden headquaters in London. When they arrived there, 2 people rushed to meet them, alerted by the mad shouts of a portrait.

The first to arrive was a black haired man with aristocratic yet weary features. He was the current owner of the building, Grimmauld Place. His expectant face darkened when he saw everyone but his godson.

"Where is Harry?"

"The boy didn't wait for us, Sirius" replied Moody. "He left on his own."

"What?"

"Wait until everyone is here, we will give more details once the meeting is in session."

"Merlin's balls! I've been telling you for days to bring him" Sirius replied as his temper rose. "None of this would have happened if he was here!"

At that time, the second person arrived, with her ginger hairs, thick figure and motherly vibe.

"Where is Harry? What happened to him?" she asked, her voice and worry rising.

"Calm down. I'm sure he's safe, just laying low" said Remus.

"You don't know where he is?" she asked, dumbfounded. "He has been attacked, Remus. By dementors! And now he is Merlin knows where, probably without food!"

"We're going to look for him Molly" said the pink haired girl. "From what I've been told, he is ressourceful. I'm sure he's alright."

"Why didn't he come to the burrow?" she lamented to herself.

Those present also asked themselves the same question.

Upstairs, 5 young people had heard the commotion, and 3 of them expected their friend to be up at any moment. A lanky ginger haired boy named Ronald, but who was called Ron. His little sister, Ginevra, who disliked her name and prefered to be called Ginny. A bushy haired brunette named Hermione. However, the ones who entered the room they were waiting in were the prankster twins of the Weasley family, Fred and George. Their faces were graves.

"What's going on?" asked Hermione.

"Harry wasn't at his relative house" said the one twin.

"It looks like he left shortly after the dementor attack" said the other.

""They don't know where he is"" they finished at the same time.

The 2 girls gasped at the news, while Ron's reaction was more subdued. Still, all 3 of them got really worried about their friend.

"They should have listened to Sirius" Ginny stated, pale from both worry and anger.

"They sent him a message to reassure and stay there. Why didn't he listen?" Hermione said nearly at the same time as Ginny.

Ginny turned toward Hermione in surprise, then her eyes narrowed. She wasn't the only one dissatisfied with Hermione's statement. Her twin elder brothers felt the same. Ron, on the other hand, wasn't sure what to think about concerning Harry's actions, and decided to wait until they met again to ask him his reasons.